Thursday, July 17, 2014

Time for us to go on inspection for
John Gray's Hong by Starlight Tour which is good chance to check if
there are any changes on the itinerary or program. Get feedback for our
customers who worry about doing Phang Nga bay tour on a rainy day
since we are now in our monsoon season. Can check our weather update
hereEasy Day Phuket Weather Reports

Today is 5th of June 2014 I had also two of my customers on the
trip a good opportunity to do inspection and take care of
our own customers at the same time.

The driver pick us up from the hotel in
Patong around 11.40, it was as scheduled. Then drive to the meeting point at Ao Por Marina where the tour guide take us to the boat and start briefing about the
boat and our day tour while cruising in to Phang Nga bay.

It was cloudy and according to the
forecast it will be wind and rain later in the afternoon.

Cruising into Phang Nga Bay

Buffet Lunch

Tour leader introducing us to our
guide/paddler which will be with us for the rest of the day. There
was about 25 customers on the boat and for every 2 customers got 1
guide/paddler and I really like that all the guides were taking good
care of customers, all of them speak good English, friendly and funny
so it was quite fun and relaxed atmosphere on boat, then a light buffet lunch was served
on board after the briefing.

Enter the Cave

On the way out

The boat cruises into Phang Nga bay and headed to the first stop for canoeing at Panak
island. We went into a pitch dark cave and it is more and more
narrow, our guide got flashlight so we still can see the sparkling
wall then our guide asked us to lay down so we can go through small
exit which lead us to the beautiful lagoon.

The rain start after we came back to
the boat from our first canoe then we've done the rest of the canoe sessions in rain which at one point inside Koh Hong lagoon we could
feel very strong wind came through the holes but the water still flat
since the area is very protected which make Phang Nga bay a
perfect trip in our monsoon season.

When the rain started

Sarina - Inside the Lagoon

I really enjoyed canoeing in the rain
especially when I was inside the lagoon surrounded by high limestone
cliff with perfect temperature not too cold and nice to escape from
Phuket heat for one day. Mangroves and other plans were covered with
rain drops make them look more green and alive than a normal sunny
day, I could imagine myself in Amazon Forest!

The guides are very knowledgeable
giving us so much information while paddling and also they are very
good at spot and show us some interesting wild life, we saw my
favorite “Mud-skipper”, big lizard on the wall, hunting sea
eagles, bats and beautiful hornbill.

Last canoe session was the highlight of
the day. We will get to do “Loy Krathong” which is one of the
most important festival for Thai people to pay respect to the Mother
River and we normally do it once a year on the fullmoon of the 12th
month in the traditional Thai Lunar Calendar. The guides prepared
banana trunk, leafs, flowers, fruits and vegetables for decoration and teach us how
to make Krathong then take us through the cave (full of sleeping
bats!) and into the lagoon to float the Krathong.

My Krathong

"Loy Krathong"

Delicious dinner was served when we
came back from Loy Krathong. There was very nice seafood dishes and
many other choices with chicken and also vegetarian.

We arrived back at the pier at around
9pm then the driver drive us back to the hotel.

It was a successful day for my trip
inspection and most of all I've learned how beautiful my country is
even in the rain ;)

Friday, December 13, 2013

I woke up around 7:00 when the sun was already high enough to warm up my tent, and when I
unzipped the tent I was welcomed by a beautiful scenery with some of
the limestone islands of Phang Nga Bay at the horizon, it was the best sea view "room" in the world!

While my fellow travellers where still in
their tents the staff quickly prepared an abundant picnic breakfast,
there was food to suit all habits, from scrambled eggs to bakery stuff
and fruit along with tea and coffee.

Campsite on Lawa Island

Our unique breakfast

After breakfast and some relax
time our support longtail boat arrived, it was time to move for some
self paddling canoe, one couple had booked a different program so the group was split. Starting from our beach camp we circumnavigated
about half of Lawa Island and reached a cave, a different one from
those we visited on the previous day. This time there was no water in
the cave so we parked our canoes on a tiny sand stripe at the
entrance and walked through a long tunnel which once again ended up
in a hong.

Mud Skippers

Due to very low tide also the hong had no water at the time so we could walk
around and see some huge mangrove trees and some funny Mud Skippers, a kind of fish with the ability of breathing air and hop around the muddy floor when the tide is low.

Back
on the canoe we paddled further and got to a little beach hidden between two cliffs, at first glance it was nothing special but then the guide
showed us an old wooden ladder that was leading to a hole a couple of meters
above the ground, it was the entrance to another cave but once again
it was different from the previous one, we never got bored of seeing caves because
each one had its peculiarities. This particular one is called
"Icecream Cave" because there are plenty of white and brown
stalactites and stalagmites which were mixing together and really looked like
huge ice creams.

Some of the magic in Phang Nga Bay

Once back outside we loaded our canoes on the support boat and started cruising east towards a new island where we had
some more self paddling around, this time no caves but beautiful
environment and landscapes. Later with the boat we moved further east to the Krabi side of the bay and stopped at Pakbia Island which has a nice
quiet beach and clear water with the opportunity to do fairly good snorkeling, here we had about 1 hour
free time to enjoy the place at leisure.

Cruising towards Pakbia Island

Little corner of Parafise at Pakbia Island

When it was about 12:30 we cruised to
the little Thalen Pier whiich is located not far from Ao Nang, there we had another
great meal at a local restaurant, this time was a seafood set menu
lunch. Time to part ways with my new friends Josh and Maggie, they
got a car waiting for them to transfer them to Ao Nang and then a short boat ride to Railay Beach where
they had booked their new hotel, while I returned strait to Phuket
with the fast and comfortable long tail boat. The journey back took
about 2 hours, just enjoyed the breeze and the navigation admiring
the landscape, there are more than 50 small limestone islets all around. We finally reached Ao Por Pier around
17:00.

Great lunch at local restaurant

A big thanks to the very professional and friendly staff who took very good care of all the guests allowing us to have a truly unforgettable experience. I highly recommend this trip to anyone who wishes to have an original and safe adventure off the beaten track, just remember that accommodation is in a tent so it's very basic and definitely not as comfortable as a hotel. As long as you don't have back ache issues or similar health conditions the experience is definitely worth the effort, after all it's just for one night.

Monday, December 9, 2013

For this first day of the Overnight Expedition Express by John Gray's Sea Canoe we followed the same itinerary of theHong By Starlight Tour, sharing the boat with the day trippers.

JGSC Escort Boat

According to the tide prediction of the day I was picked up on time at 12:00 and
transferred to Ao Por marina where all participants were gathered at a restaurant for
the count, then after the staff introduced themselves we got on the "escort boat". Once on board the tour leader did a safety briefing about the
do's and don'ts on the boat while we started cruising towards Phang Nga
Bay. There were about 25 guests on board plus many guides though there was plenty of space for everybody, fruits and soft drinks available all the time, the boat also has a toilet on the lower deck.

When we were about half way to destination a light buffet lunch
was served, mostly vegetarian choices and plenty of food for everyone.

Safety birefing

After lunch we were given a very detailed briefing about
the canoe session that we were about to enjoy, the guide in charge was using maps and other
funny pictures which made the briefing interesting so people didn't miss the important parts. We then finally got to our first stop which was at Panak
island, a canoe and an English speaking guide/paddler was provided each 2 people, all the guides are kind and knowledgeable about the local
environment providing a lot of information and smiling all the time. In the meanwhile we were paddling from the moored boat towards a high and steep limestone cliff with a dark cave entrance at the bottom.

Cave entrance

Once we went deeper into the tunnel it was pitch black so the guides turned their flashlights on, the
tunnel was large and very long and we could see hundreds of bats sleeping while hanging on the ceiling. After about 200m the cave started to get more and
more narrow to the point that we had to lay down horizontally and deflate the
canoe a bit in order to move forward, when we managed to pass through the little hole I realised that we entered another
world. This was one of the so called "hongs" (Thai word for "room"), a large hidden lagoon completely surrounded by
limestone cliffs covered in lush vegetation, only accessible through a cave.

Inside a hong

The atmosphere inside the hong is surreal, you can find absolute silence only broken by the animal sounds. The effects by the light filtering
through the trees was amazing and could see plenty of sea eagles flying
above us. Looking carefully into the trees we also spotted some large hornbills and monkeys (long tailed macaques) laying on the rocks. After
about an hour exploring this hong we went out again trough the cave
and then to a smaller lagoon before returning to the boat.

The very narrow hong access point

We
immediately started cruising towards the other side of the island and during navigation we were followed by a flock of sea eagles "hunting" some pieces of chicken skin that where tossed from the kitchen, quite impressive! When we reached our destination we had some free time to self paddle, swim and relax on the
beach, this was also the place where we would later spend the night camping. There were few other boats from other tour operators moored here and many people
wandering around though they left very soon as they were at the end of
their day while we still had plenty of time to go.

Diamond-like Calcium carbonate

Once back on board
the guides provided us banana leaves, flowers and needles to teach us how to build a traditional krathong, this part was interesting and a particular experience of Thai culture. Before sunset we moved to the nearby Hong Island and went
for another canoe session through caves and hongs, pretty similar to
the first though in this cave there were some formations of calcium carbonate that was shining like diamond when hit by the light from the torches, therefore it was called "Diamond Cave".

Krathong construction...well done!

Back again on the boat a
great Thai buffet dinner was waiting for us, this time there was more
choice with both seafood and chicken curry dishes plus some vegetarian
option. By the time we had our dinner it got dark, so the tour leader
gave us a detailed explanation about Thai culture and history related
to the Loy Krathong festival, all this in preparation for what we were
about to experience. Once ready we finally went for our last canoe
session into a hong, this time in the total darkness. When we all got
into the hong we lit the candles and launched our self-made krathongs,
all the candles floating in the dark together with their reflection in the water made it a truly
magical moment. In respect of the environment before heading back to
the boat we recovered all our krathongs, though they are mostly made
with natural components there were also too many steel nails in them to be
left there, it's good to be Eco-friendly.

Lawa Island's beach - overnight campsite

While most guests returned to Phuket,
the 5 of us who chose to stay overnight were left on the tiny
secluded beach at Lawa Island together with few of the guides. They already
prepared the camp site with tents, fire, oil lamps and all the
supplies we could ever need. Everything was perfectly organised and it was nice
to be just a handful of people from different countries chatting around a
fire on a remote beach, all under a starry sky. Unfortunately as it often happens in tropics the weather quickly
changed and in a couple of hours a short thunderstorm came, time to go to
sleep. The tents were set under a limestone cliff and a large tree so
we were well sheltered from the heavy rain, it actually cooled down
the temperature enough to allow us a nice sleep and be fresh for the second day of our adventure.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Thank you so much for helping set up the wonderful Honeymoon in Thailand for my wife Jules and I. We had an amazing time and enjoyed being able to sit back and have the logistics figured out for us! The Phang Nga Bay tour was wonderful and our guide Bee was great! The Allano was also a spectacular hotel in Patong and the owner there was simply perfect! They had amazing customer service. Despite the muddy conditions/construction there we had an amazing time!

Jules is CC'd here on this email and she will be getting in contact with you because her parents will be traveling through Thailand in I believe a few weeks and would like to work with you in setting up some transfers, hotel bookings and maybe a tour.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Last Saturday we did an inspection tour at Phang Nga Bay and James Bond Island to refresh a bit our best seller private tour. This time we left from Tadang Pier near Phang Nga Town, with the longtail boat went to see Koh Ping Ngan, James Bond Island and last stop was for lunch at Koh Panyee.

Koh Panyee from North East

Koh Panyee is a tiny Muslim village built on stilts next to a small cliff that is an island itself, despite the small dimension the island has two very different souls. The south side is taken by tours package restaurants, where all massive tours to James Bond come to have lunch and do some shopping at souvenirs shop. While the north side, near the cliff, is where can see the island and village life there, at the extreme north east side, we found the Panyee Bungalow Restaurant. There were some local people from Phang Nga Town, small tour groups and some independent travelers that made their way to the piers and then to the island.

Koh Tam Loe

Panyee Bungalow Restaurant

So we decided to give a trial and we ordered the House Dish, snapper fish cooked three times, the fish is fried, then passed again in the pan with chilly paste and then in sweet and sour sauce. The staff asked if we liked spicy or more sweet...surely spicy.

Food is ready..and a lot

Then prawns Tempura, mixed vegetables in Thai style with soy sauce, fried rice with sea food and steamed rice. Everything was fresh, tasty and in large portions, we couldn't eat all because too much for two people.

Souvenir shop at restaurant

Terrace on the sea

Fish cages next to the restaurant ..fresh sea food

Must say that Muslim cuisine is always a bit sweet so ask for fish sauce, salt or lemon if like a more bitter flavor or simply ask to not add sugar.

The Island is traditional and so won't have any pork on the menu and alcohol is banned.

We think all was good from staff to food, location to kindness and so we are now using this as "our" restaurant for the private Phang Nga tour.

Panyee Bungalow Sea Food Restaurant

A note about the name, the owner Mr "Bao" is planning to build first Koh Panyee bungalows next to the restaurant, may be next year. In the hope he can make his dream come true he started with the name "Panyee Bungalows".

Monday, September 9, 2013

First week of September passed and can only say that everything was normal, from flash floods to hot sunny afternoons. This is the month of rain that can be slow, lasting all day long, or just heavy and crazy for one or two hours.

First have a look to our river at Kathu Waterfall, heavy rains at night he was running much faster then previous months and water level is rising.

Kathu River on 6 September 2013

During week end we also went around Phang Nga Bay for an inspection tour at the island where we do our special private Phang Nga bay tour, all day the Sun was playing with clouds and rain could be seen at distance, luckily we haven't got any and really enjoyed the fresh air.

Phang Nga Bay on 7 September 2013

James Bond Island - Phang Nga Bay 7 Sept 2013

On Sunday was time for bicycles, we participated at Phuket Old Town Bike day organized by Tourism Authority of Thailand in Phuket, meeting was before dawn and thought nobody was there as rain was really heavy, but then by the time we started , at 7:00 am, only grey clouds soon we reached Kathu Chinese shire sun was out, everyone was soon dry and we did last part to the dam easy and faster.

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Catherine and Family enjoyed several tours and transfer services with us. The review below was posted on TripAdvisor earlier this month.

"After reading all the great reviews, I booked all our tours through
Francesco. The private tour of Phang Nga was fabulous and Tee was great
about being flexible for a large group. It was a relief to be able to
arrange all the transports between hotels, and even dental appointments
and I can always guarantee to be picked up in a comfortable van. Their
drivers were always on time and made me feel safe (I've been in other
rides where the drivers drove wildly and rides were very bumpy). The
only tour I didn't arrange through Easy Day was the Phi Phi island tour
which I arranged at the last minute out of our hotel in Krabi. First, we
we picked up in a tuk-tuk, then 10 minutes into the speedboat ride, I
understood why Francesco recommended the luxury cruiser option. The
speedboat ride out was so bumpy that an elderly woman hurt her back and
was in deep pain through the whole trip. All the women were feeling
quite sick after the 45 minute ride out which seemed to take a lot
longer. Next time, I'll take Francesco's advice and pay the extra for
the luxury cruiser. Also, talking to other tourists, it seems that
nobody else had been told about the Kapong River tubing which we quite
enjoyed. Thanks for helping to make our vacation not only more
luxurious, but so much easier."

...and few days later we received this email:

"Thank you, when we return to Thailand, I'll definitely be contacting you guys again.

I'll
be recommending you to all my friends in Norway. What distinguishes a
good service organization from the bad is not that they necessarily have
everything go perfectly, but it's how you handle the situation. I'm
very satisfied with all the services we've received from you and you are
a top notch service provider.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Just wanted to let you know
that we had an amazing time yesterday with T! When we get back to
Toronto in about a week, I will write a thorough review. T is an amazing
guide and felt more like a friend! We had a blast with him! Also, the
lunch was definitely one of the best meals we've had in Thailand!
Couldn't have asked for a better day!

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

We just wanted to tell you that we thoroughly enjoyed our family trip
to Phang Nga yesterday. I will certainly put a review on your website
and make a recommendation to the owner of the house. What we really
liked was that we had our own transport, our own guide and own
water transport. Indeed we could completely make our own planning. Tii
was very helpful (and sometimes too worried) but he realised we were a
quiet and not so demanding family. We like to take things in the easy
way and do not ask a lot of questions. We are glad we did not take any
of the busy tourist trips. Sitting in a bus or boat and waiting for each
other is nothing for us.

Thank you again. Oh, Francesco, Cape Panwa is not the same as Panwa Beach, Tii was a bit later due to that.... No worries.

Friday, April 5, 2013

Thank you for sending the Best guide :-) we had a wonderful time today.
Are a bit tired now after All the impressions but wouldn't have been
without them. Looking forward to join your Company again the Day after
tomorrow.

Monday, March 4, 2013

"Hi Sri, Thank you for the email! We had an amazing holiday in Thailand, made all the more special by your company of lovely people!!! Every member of my family commented on how well the tours were organised and run. Especially the 2 guides we had take us!!! We would like to highly praise both, T & U!!!! T took us on the Phang Nga Bay James Bond Island day, he was fantastic, funny, friendly & helpful!!! He really helped to make our day special. Especially wonderful as he was going into hospital the next day. Please could you let us know how he is doing? Please send on our best wishes to him & thank him again!!! U was our guide for the Phi Phi Islands day, again he made our day extra special, we couldn't have asked for better. A lovely man! Both guides helped to give us some very special memories to take home!!! A credit to Thailand!!! The Phi Phi tour ended our holiday on a wonderful note, we felt cared for & very special!!! We did actually recommend you to an Australian couple while we were still in Phuket. I gave them all your details & told them to mention my name if they wanted to do the Phi Phi tour. I don't know if they did as we flew home the next day??? I will definitely recommend you to anyone i know going to Phuket!!! Thank you all so much for a very special holiday!!!! Please thank everyone involved..... Gemma "

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Just
wanted to tell you how much I appreciate your help and last-minute
request. We had a WONDERFUL time on both tours and today’s trip to Phi
Phi was really a highlight as well. The guide Jams (sp?) was wonderful
and really too care of us from start to finish.

We
will definitely be recommending your tour agency to our friends in the
Philippines/USA when they come down to Phuket. Hope to spend more time
in the near future and this time give you a more advance notice and let
you help us plan our trip better.

Friday, December 14, 2012

Our private tour
to Phang Nga Bay Private is well designed to avoid the crowds and
doing everything at your own pace. A good start to possibly avoid
the tourist crowds is to leave your hotel at 7:00-7:30 depending on your hotel location.

James Bond Island - Image by Adriano Trapani

After picking you up at the hotel our
driver and our guide will drive you to Phang Nga (about 1 hour) and
to the scenic Sam Chong Floating Restaurant where the longtail boat
leaves and where you also have a great lunch at the end of the bay
tour. After jumping on the boat we head straight to James Bond Island
to anticipate the crowds when it's still quiet and almost empty
(sometimes schedule varies depending on tide).

After that you visit Tam Lod Area where
you have the optional opportunity to do about 45 minutes canoe where
professional local paddlers are provided and will bring you to
explore a great environment, through the caves and passageways dug by
the water through the centuries in the limestone walls and in the
mangroves.

Later you visit the fascinating KohPanyee Sea Gypsy village built on stilts, the authentic village lays
beyond the first line of restaurants and souvenir stalls and there
you can see a unique lifestyle, great place. You then move to a large
very interesting limestone cave full of stalactites and stalagmites,
away from the usual day trip routes.

You then move back to Samchong Floating
Restaurant to enjoy a tasty lunch facing the scenic mangrove channel.
After lunch there's one more stop at Sawan Kuha cave temple, usually
a lot of monkeys just outside the entrance and Buddha statues inside,
very interesting place.

It depends also by your own pace but
this itinerary usually ends around 14:00-15:00 in Phang Nga and then
we leave the minivan available for you until 17:00 for any additional
purpose like visiting waterfalls, temples, shopping, activities or
whatever else you would like to do (according to weather and time
available). Just discuss about additional
destinations after lunch with your tour guide.